MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says there’s a team of people right now trying to keep the peace and stop any more bloodshed from happening. Their efforts seemed to have worked last night, but there are questions about the days to come.
Memphis rapper Young Dolph was murdered outside of a cookie store on Airways Wednesday.
The motive remains unclear, fueling rumors and fear of retaliation.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has lead efforts in recent months to build a Group Violence Intervention Program — a team working within schools, hospitals and neighborhoods to stop bloodshed from happening.
Basically, if there’s a shooting or murder the violence interrupters go in and try to stop retaliation.
We spoke to one violence interrupter, who wouldn’t go on camera, telling us they haven’t stopped working since Young Dolph was shot.
The chief said her officers were also put on alert.
“The Memphis police department is providing an increase presence in areas of the city that might be directly impacted by this incident,” said Chief Davis.
We saw officers overnight parked at Prive, owned by Yo Gotti who is one of Young Dolph’s rival rappers.
Thursday afternoon, there is no sign of them. Just a security guard in their place.
Another rapper, Soulja Boy, who made mention of Young Dolph days prior, is set to perform this weekend at FedExForum.
Police haven’t responded to our questions about what safety measures they’ll be taking.
Officers responded to a murder yesterday evening in South Memphis. It’s unclear if it’s tied to Young Dolph’s. They didn’t report any other violence overnight.
Strickland didn’t know if that was due to the efforts of violence interrupters.
“I don’t know. I would certainly hope so. I know the effort was there,” he said.
WREG also reached out to FedExForum about this weekend’s show, but never heard back. As soon as we hear something, we’ll let you know.
